[Greetings, Chosen citizens of the Floating City! Today, a black mage has escaped from the Security Bureau! We are now releasing their physical description, so if any of the Chosen of the Floating City spot them, please subdue them immediately or report them to the Security Bureau!]
A twin-tailed girl's avatar crafted from light magic was diligently broadcasting the news. A photo of my face, taken who knows when, was plastered largely on it, and next to it, my characteristics were detailed in writing.
Origin: Military Nation. Negligible magic power. Underwent implant surgery for a physical catalyst known as a bio-terminal, etc. It was quite specific and distinguishing information.
"I've never had a bounty on my head before. This is the first time I've become this famous."
I was somewhat in disguise, but someone with a keen eye could apprehend me right now. Yet, no one discovered me.
No, they didn't even have the thought of looking for me.
"But..."
I looked around the notice board and said.
"No one seems to care?"
The mages didn't show even the slightest interest. The few mages who did take an interest in the girl's avatar only observed it closely, leaving without even bothering to listen to the actual content.
Amidst this utter apathy, the girl's avatar pathetically repeated words that no one would hear.
I asked Lankart.
"Lankart. Is the Floating City always like this?"
"In what sense?"
"...You didn't care either, huh?"
Well, if he did care, he wouldn't have let me walk right past the wanted poster. When I pointed at the avatar and asked, only then did Lankart notice it.
"This avatar? It's used to broadcast news in the Floating City. Mages are utterly indifferent to anything outside their own interests, so I heard they use these exaggerated forms just to grab people's attention, if only for a moment."
"Even taking that into consideration, they seem pretty apathetic."
"Anyone with above-average intellect knows it's strange to take an interest in a virtual entity. It's only natural."
He's going around saying dangerous things. I mean, it's perfectly fine to get a little immersed in a virtual entity.
"Not that. My face is on a wanted poster."
"A wanted poster? I've had one too, it's no big deal. Mages are rational beings. If they meet someone clearly superior to them, they bow their heads and seek their guidance. If you just toss them a crumb of your wisdom, they'll be panting like dogs with joy."
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"Where exactly would I find this wisdom to toss around?"
I pressed a hand to my head.
Lankart Spendry. A former classmate who studied alongside me at the Hameln Intermediate Military Academy, who spectacularly betrayed the Military Nation and threw himself into the Magic Federation. A genius who awakened his Unique Sorcery at the mere age of thirteen.
How did I become friends with such a genius, you ask? Simple.
I just had to pretend to be a genius on par with him.
They say lies are eventually exposed, but I'm a mind reader. Just reading and keeping up with the genius Lankart's thoughts was enough to earn me treatment akin to a genius. And if I feigned taking a step further by leveraging how others perceived me? I would become a genius who surpassed him.
As a result, Lankart came to firmly believe that I was a genius who surpassed him. Well, mind-reading is my ability, so I suppose I am a genius in my own right.
"Let's say the mages are apathetic. What about the other Mundanes?"
Lankart answered my question as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Mundanes? There's no way such things exist in the Floating City."
"The purpose of a class system is exploitation. Didn't they create the Mundane class because even mages need people to clean or run errands?"
"They're unnecessary. Mundanes, that is. At the very least, there is no place for Mundanes to stand, nor air for them to breathe, in the Floating City."
"You've really become one of the Chosen since I last saw you."
"One doesn't 'become' the Chosen. You are born that way. Even back in the Military Nation, the only ones who weren't foolish were you and me. The rest were, frankly, subpar humans. Right?"
I'd like to make it clear that this is Lankart's personal opinion and is far removed from my own views. You've got some dangerous ideologies, my friend.
"And this Floating City is proving the fact that Mundanes are entirely unnecessary for living. Look."
Lankart was right.
A mage walking down the street arrived at a building. The first floor had a door to receive visitors, but his destination was further up. The mage tapped the floor with his cane, and as gravity distorted, it propelled him straight up to the fifth floor.
A hungry mage placed a milk crystal in a bowl and sprinkled crumbs over it. Then, with a light tap imbued with magic power, the milk crystal melted, and the crumbs absorbed the moisture, swelling up into cereal. The mage loudly slurped down the cereal.
Another mage reading a newspaper tore out a page and suspended it in mid-air. He then pulled a gemstone from his pocket, attached it to his cane, and scattered light over it. The flashing light pierced through the paper, the ink turned into shadows, and etched itself into a small bead as if being sucked in. Having clipped the newspaper in an instant, the mage burned the rest of the paper and walked away.
The entire world was overflowing with magic. The grace of magic provided convenience simply by knowing how to use it.
Gravity, light, wind, crystallization, space. The Floating City was truly a city of magic.
"I heard the mages staying in the Lower Realm hire Mundanes. But that's impossible in the Floating City. The mystical magic filling the Floating City would cause accidents if one couldn't detect magic power."
"Do the mages here not keep any attendants?"
"Grand Mages or Tower Masters might take on disciples. However, there is no innate superiority among the Chosen. Anyone can awaken a Unique Sorcery, and one is the master of their own Unique Sorcery."
Mundanes are foolish. The Chosen are wise. And there is no need for any further distinction between the Mundanes and the Chosen.
That was the rule governing the Floating City, and strictly within the Floating City, it was a correct statement. If one hadn't awakened their magic power, surviving here would be nearly impossible.
Lankart scoffed and continued.
"I don't agree that there's no superiority among the Chosen, but I can't deny that this place is better than those fools in the Military Nation."
You've found a land that suits you. Good for you.
I inwardly offered Lankart my felicitations and spoke.
"So, what about the person who's going to help us? Are they superior?"
"Fairly superior. A righty, though."
"More so than you?"
"For now."
Lankart admitted it readily.
He added, "for now"? That's practically a declaration of surrender from Lankart. It took him nearly a year to admit his defeat to me—or more accurately, to my mind-reading. Earning his acknowledgment wasn't easy.
"Of course, they're not on your level. They lack the desire for self-improvement. They're making absolutely no effort to become wiser."
"That's too harsh, Lankart! If you considered the time and money I spent looking after you, you wouldn't dare say such a thing."
A voice rang out just then. It had to be the acquaintance Lankart mentioned who would 'help us.' I turned to look in the direction the voice came from.
Lankart's acquaintance was unlike a mage. That is to say, she looked bright and cheerful.
She was a mage with long, lanky limbs. Her short, blue hair looked as refreshing as its color suggested, and a patternless gold earring glinted on her long ear. Seeing that there were no gemstones on the earring, it seemed to be an accessory purely for fashion.
She wore wide-leg pants that at first glance resembled a skirt, and her tight-fitting gloves matched her blue shirt well. Beyond the semi-transparent sunglasses resting lightly on her pale face, her clear eyes occasionally peeked through.
I was quite surprised. The fact that a mage—of all people—was dressed in a way that actually considered the gazes of others.
And not just that.
"Huey. That's the assistant I mentioned. The Blue Tower Master."
A Master of the Blue Tower, a sorcerer who had even mastered a Unique Sorcery, pursuing fashion!
"I'm Elisha Celsius. In the Floating City, I'm more often called the Blue Tower Master. It's nice to meet you, friend of 'that' Lankart."
The Blue Tower Master offered a refreshing smile and held out her hand to me. There was an atmosphere about her that made it hard to refuse, so I awkwardly clasped her hand and shook it. Whether it was due to the influence of magic or her natural constitution, I could feel a chill even through her gloves.
I wasn't the only one sizing up the other. The Blue Tower Master glanced at my wrist and said.
"So you're the black mage who escaped. I heard you gave the Security Bureau a proper 'screw you'?"
"I had no choice. I apologize for causing a scene."
"Ahaha! It's fine. The Security Bureau needed a bit of a wake-up call anyway. A city where only the Chosen reside lacks a sense of tension. Mind if I call you Huey?"
Her sociability was incredible. Almost overwhelmingly so. I replied, injecting a slight hint of refusal into my voice.
"That's the name I went by during my time in the Military Nation. I go by Hughes now."
"What a shame. It was a good name. Then again, after all the atrocious things the Military Nation did, it's only natural you'd abandon it. Personally, I truly regret what happened at Hameln."
"Excuse me?"
"It's the biggest issue with black magic. You can amplify your power by consuming the lives of others. That's why black mages are more susceptible to corruption than anyone else... But I respect you for resolutely rejecting that taboo and walking away."
Elisha continued the conversation, sounding genuinely sympathetic. I was quite taken aback by her sudden, probing remarks.
Because she knew about the Hameln incident? Because she had some understanding of who I was?
No. The Blue Tower Master, Elisha Celsius, was the head of the Floating City's Intelligence Bureau. Her job was to monitor and collect information from outside the Magic Federation, and when it came to magic-related matters, there was very little she wouldn't know. Since she had interacted with Lankart, uncovering the details of the Hameln incident wouldn't have been difficult for her.
It was just, purely—
"Hey, Lankart!"
I was panicked by this utterly un-mage-like sociability!
"You're the one who introduced us! Take the lead here!"
It's exhausting trying to talk to someone so aggressively outgoing when we aren't even close! At my call, Lankart spoke up, looking less than enthusiastic.
"I don't really want to talk. It's draining."
"You don't find my presence draining?!"
"You do too? That's odd. By my estimation, I figured you two were cut from the same cloth."
"This person and I are in completely different genres! If my sociability is the type that naturally blends in, hers is the type that forcibly wedges itself in! It's a one-sided dynamic where I'm the only one exhausted!"
"Ahaha! What an interesting Mundane. Saying I'm burdensome right to my face. Even I'm feeling a little hurt, you know?"
The Blue Tower Master tilted her sunglasses and gave a soft smile. Just her presence alone seemed to make the surrounding air feel refreshingly crisp.
This person, who would likely be more popular with women than with men, was the Blue Tower Master, Elisha Celsius.
The mage Shei had recalled, who might be able to help me.
I had wondered what kind of eccentric mage would step up to help someone else, but after meeting her in person and reading her mind, I understood.
'Mundanes can't help it. They're foolish. Who would want to be born foolish?'
Because she's kind? Because she's humble?
No. The mage known as the Blue Tower Master—
'Ah. The more I learn about the world beyond the Floating City, the more I realize how filled with foolishness it is. So much so that people consider it 'normal.' That's why I must at least treat them kindly. A single thread of knowledge bestowed upon the Mundanes. That is merely an offering of praise to my own radiant intellect.'
She was an absolute lunatic of an eccentric, even among the mages considered eccentric!